Beginner's Guide to Whisk(e)y part 2 : Peated Whiskies

Peated Whisky...

Amateur peat digger on Islay..

It's whisky with a smoky flavour. Medicinal flavour. It's very different. It's an acquired taste. Some love it, some hate it.

The flavour origins from peat being used as fuel to dry the malted barley. The peatsmoke infuses the barley with these characteristic flavours. The barley is then used to brew a beer which is distilled into what becomes whisky!

Here's a small guide to help you find peaty and smoky whiskies!

There is almost 100 distilleries in Scotland. Of these just 7 distilleries makes a peated whisky as their main product. Yes, just 7!

They are :

Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Bowmore, Caol Ila, Kilchoman and Talisker

The first 6 are located on the isle of Islay, Talisker is on the isle of Skye

Islay, Queen of the Hebrides

Kilchoman on Islay started production recently, in 2005.

Port Ellen on Islay closed production in 1983, but whisky from this distillery is still available. It's old by now!

The last two Islay distilleries are traditionally making non-peated whisky. Bruichladdich has a side production of various peated versions (They call it Port Charlotte and Octomore). Bunnahabhain also has made smaller productions of peated whisky. But do assume that Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain is NOT peated unless you can read so on the label.

Two more distilleries could be added to this list. Ardmore, from the East Highlands, is somewhat peated but harder to find. Highland Park is also moderately peated but not much in my opinion. These are not peated on the same scale as the others mentioned here, but occasional you find bottlings from these distilleries where the peat is dominant

A lot of distilleries uses tiny amounts of peat in their production, but if you are searching peaty whiskies this is not really what you are looking for.

Just like Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain, quite a few distilleries have been or is making smaller productions of peated whisky. This has been done both to accomodate blends, but also as a part of a general peated release from the distilleries.

The more well known of these are Tobermory (Ledaig), Springbank (Longrow), Edradour (Ballechin), Tomintoul (Old Ballantruan), Isle of Jura, Arran, Benriach and Benromach.
Harder to find, there are peated versions of Caperdonich, Bladnoch, Glen Garioch, Fettercairn, Glen Scotia, Loch Lomond and probably more. You never know what distilleries have hidden inside their warehouses over the years.

Outside Scotland, you can find peated whiskies from Japan (Hakushu and Yoichi to name a couple, but read labels, these are not peated by default). Cooley from Ireland and Amrut from India has also been making peated versions. McCarthy's from Oregon is a peated american single malt whiskey.

The ones I high-lighted in red should be part of any aspiring whisky entusiasts whisky eduction and if you are really ambitious I would try to source out some Brora from 1970-1972 or so, but it will cost you

Ardbeg

PS There's is so much more to be told about peated whiskies, there has been written full books on the subject, I can personally recommend Peat, Smoke and Spirit by Andrew Jefford

PPS Phenols, which is the molecules responsible for the peaty flavours are broken down as a whisky matures. Peaty flavours are slowly lost as a cask matures

Steffen's Short Guide Scottish Distilleries

There's whisky from around 100 scottish distilleries available, so this guide is actually very long

Here is my recommendations!!
This is a guide to entry levels whiskies!!
The fact that a whisky gets labeled "Don't bother", doesn't mean a distillery doesn't bottle or make good whisky. They just haven't given me anything that lifted my eyebrows (yet!). Quite often they will have a marketing strategy aiming their malt for different people than me. That is they chillfilter their whisky, then add too much water and caramel E150.
Sometimes a distillery is very good but doesn't get any attention from their parent company as single malt. It will be hard to get anything on this list then-
Allmost all malts will be available from Independent Bottlers (IB). I only point to an Independent Bottler if they have been able to and are still bottling consecutively good bottlings from the distillery. Otherwise this is about OB's and bottlings general availble. So no single cask OB's as well, unless they have been rolling them out on general basis-
Most distilleries do exclusive limited bottlings, but this list is mainly a guide cheaper level whiskies, so no Penderyn Port Wood single casks or Diageo Manager's Choice here.

Remember, this is my personal list, your list will differ (I haven't tasted everything out there - but almost), so don't kill me if I didn't list your favourite. Here we go :

Aberfeldy
Don't bother

Aberlour
A'bunadh
12yo


Abhainn Dearg
Don't bother

Allt-a-Bhainne
Don't bother

Ardbeg
Everything but the Blasda :
10yo
Uigedail
Corryvreckan
Supernova, Rollercoaster, Alligator etc.
Nam Beist

PING 1

Ardmore
Don't bother
(I really like this distillery from IB's)

Arran
I don't like their finishes or earlier bottlings
Some great single casks and the icons series, especially Peacock and Golden Eagle
Arran 14yo

Arran Peacock and Arran Rowan Tree

Auchentoshan

Three Wood

Auchroisk
Don't bother

Aultmore
Don't bother

Balblair
89
97

Balmenach
Deerstalker 18yo (IB)

Balvenie
15yo single casks
Tun 1401

Ben Nevis
Don't bother - I didn't like most of what I tasted from them

BenRiach
I like almost all of their stuff. Beware of weird finishes thou. A constant flow of good single casks bottlings so far
12yo
Authenticus
20yo
25yo

Plowed BenRiach

Benrinnes

Stronachie (IB)

Benromach
Organic


Bladnoch
8yo 55%


Blair Athol
Don't Bother

Bowmore
Tempest

Braeval
Don't bother

Bruichladdich
3D
10yo


Bunnahabhain
Many great IB's around, especially older stuff
12yo


Caol Ila
Quoting Mark Watt : "I never had a bad Caol Ila"
I agree

Caperdonich
Look out for old stuff, especially Duncan Taylor's

Caperdonich by Limburg

Cardhu

Don't bother

Clynelish

14yo

Cragganmore

12yo

Craigellachie

Don't bother

Dailuaine

FF 16yo

Dalmore

Don't bother

Dalmore is a great place for kids.

Dalwhinnie

Don't bother

Deanston

12yo (new version @46.3%)

Dufftown

Don't bother

Edradour

Don't bother

That was a colourful tasting

Fettercairn

The 10yo is horrible, really horrible

anything else I tried was really good thou

Glenallachie

Cask Strength Edition

Glenburgie

Cask Strength Edition

10yo by Gordon and macPhail

Glencadam

14yo

15yo

Glendronach

15yo

Glendullan

Don't bother

Glen Elgin

Don't bother

Glenfarclas

15yo

Glenfiddich

Rich Oak

15yo

Glenglassaugh

Revival, it'a young but not a waste of time

They just reopened after being mothballed for 23 years

Good stuff, but rare

Glenglassaugh old floor maltings

Glen Garioch

1990 Vintage

Glengoyne

I need to catch up on this one, but I liked the

12yo cask strength

Glen Grant

The Major's Reserve

25yo by Gordon and MacPhail

Glengyle (Kilkerran)

Don't bother (yet)

Glen Keith

Getting rare. I had a great deal of older IB's I really enjoyed

Glenkinchie

Don't bother - new 12yo better than the old 10yo thou

Glenlivet

Nadurra

Glenlossie

Don't bother

Glenmorangie

Anything that comes from ex-bourbon casks exclusively!

Glen Moray

Mountain Oak

Glen Ord

Don't bother

Glenrothes

1985

1991

Glen Scotia

Don't bother - be suspicious

Glen Spey

Don't Bother

Glentaucher's

Don't bother

Glenturret

Don't bother

Highland Park

18yo

Imperial

I tried quite a few excellent bottlings from Duncan Taylor labels aged 8-13

Inchgower

Don't bother

Jura

I don't like the 10yo

Superstition

Kilchoman

Don't bother (yet)

Knockando

Don't bother

Knockdhu (AnCnoc)

A new approx 13yo Vintage released every year

Lagavulin

12yo Cask Strength

16yo

Lagavulin 2001

Laphroaig

10yo Cask Strength

Linkwood

Don't bother

Loch Lomond

Don't bother - run away

(that goes for any of their malts)

Longmorn

Cask Strength Edition

Macallan

10yo cask strength

Mannochmore

Don't bother

Macduff

Don't bother

Miltonduff

Cask Strength Edition

Mortlach

15yo bottled by Gordon and Macphail

Oban

Don't bother

Pulteney

Great OB rabge in general

12yo

WK499

Bottle your own 15yo'ish cask strength at Old Pulteney

Royal Brackla

Don't bother

Royal Lochnagar

Don't bother

Scapa

Don't bother

Speyburn

10yo

Speyside

Don't bother

Springbank

100 proof

10yo

15yo

Longrow 10yo

Hazelburn 12yo

Strathisla

Cask Strength Edition

Strathisla

Strathmill

Don't bother

Talisker

10yo

Tamdhu

Don't bother 

Tamnavulin

Don't bother

Teaninich

Don't bother

Tobermory

Don't bother

Tomatin

15yo

18yo

Tomintoul

Somehow I forgot all other Tomintoul's than this one :

Tormore

Don't bother

Tullibardine

John Black selection

I omitted many long time closed distilleries. Brora, St. Magdelene, Port Ellen, Lochside, Banff, Coleburn, Convalmore, Dallas Dhu, Glen Esk, Glen Mhor, Glen Albyn, Glenury Royal, Lochside, Millburn, North Port and Ladyburn have all given me some good drams : Happy hunting for those

A new distillery like Daftmill isn't mentioned, cause the bloody owner sits on his casks and won't release anything :-)

Ah well, he is a very nice fellow, his whisky is marvelous and I guess we just have to wait or visit the distillery

Daftmill

Beginner's Guide to Whisk(e)y part 1 : How to drink Whisky

Are you new to the world of whisky ? 

Here's a few of my guidelines to help you on how to drink enjoy a whisky and what to try and/or buy and how to broaden your horizons and get some experience. This is based on questions I tend to get most often

First a bit on drinking whisky. No, I am not going to tell you how you should drink your whisky, You have to figure that out yourself. Your nose and palate isn't the same as my nose and palate, so the way I drink whisky might not be the way for You to drink whisky. The world is full of whiskywriters, "experts" and brand ambassadors who can lecture You on how there's exactly one right way to enjoy a good whisky. It can be confusing as they can describe the only right way to drink a whisky exactly the opposite way as the "guru" you were listening to yesterday said. This is probably the area where there is most bullshit to listen to in the world of good whisky :-)

Whisky is an alcoholic drink. It contains alcohol, well alcohol is really a group of chemical compunds with a specific molecular setup and by that - similar chemical  properties, but when common people like you and me says alcohol we actually mean the alcohol named ethanol, CH3CH2OH 

Someone working with chemistry might be referring to the whole group of compounds, but when they are in bar with you and me alcohol is the same for them as us, so when I say alcohol I mean ethanol

Alcohol is an organic solvent, just like ether, formaldehyde, chloroform and terpentine is. Opposed to the other mentioned solvents, alcohol is "slightly" less toxic, and the state of mild toxication is sought after...no need to hide the fact that part of the fun with whisky is getting a little tipsy :-)

But drinking alcohol exposes your nose, mouth, palate and throat to this chemical solvent; ethanol. If the alcohol is very diluted, like it is in beer, wine or a cocktail this is no issue, but if you drink a whisky neat, the ABV (alcohol by volume) can be from the standard lowest legal botling strength 40%, up to, in extreme cases, 70%, if bottled straight from the cask. Cask Strengths whiskies are normally in the range from 50 to 60% ABV. In these cases the "chemical solvent" exposure will affect you and the parts of your body it gets in contact with! 

Experienced drinkers, including me, often drink their whisky neat, whatever the bottle strength is, or add a drop or two of water, to "open" up the whisky. You don't really add these drops of water to dilute your whisky but to start a chemical and/or physical reaction that releases flavours. 

Newcomers to whisky are usually not used to drink neat alcohol at these high strengths and it can cause an unpleasant "alcoholic" burn that will take away any kind of pleasure and mask all flavours of whisky

The first thing you have to overcome is dealing with this. You won't enjoy a whisky with an unpleasant burning sensation in your mouth and throat, trying to cough out blood  through the white of your eyes. As you get more experienced drinking strong alcohols, experience and a few tricks will help you. Here's a couple of common strategies :

1. Diluting with water. This will dilute the alcohol, the disadvantage is that you also dilute the flavours but you can work on this a bit and try to find a balance, you really want to add as little water as possible, just enough for the burn not to destroy the whole experience

2. Cooling the whisky in a fridge or more commonly with icecubes. Cold will mask the alcohol strength and the flavours to an extend where you can't taste anything but a cold sensation. This works best with very strong flavoured alcohols or it can be a way to be able to drink stuff you think tastes bad. Here in Denmark it's very common to drink Snaps from the fridge, which I find understandable as I don't think it tastes very good. Adding ice to a wellknown Tennessee whiskey like Jack Daniels is also understandable. I find JD very strong flavoured and even with ice its still possible to taste the stuff

If you drink good single malt whisky, also a good bourbon or ryes which has become very popular and available lately, adding ice is really not a good idea. The reason you go out and pay 2, 3, 10 times or even more than the cheapest whisk(e)ys availble costs is because of the better flavours, the higher complexity and the whole enjoyment factor is worth it. If you add ice your money could as well has been spend on cheaper stuff.

A lot of the great flavours in a whisky are very subtle and hard to find, you might need some practise or help to find them, but if the whisky is cold it will be next to impossible

The more you drink, the wiser you get!

So my advice is balancing the spirit with water, which some experience you get used to it, and will be able to add less and less water. Personally I start up with adding no water at all. First I take a dropsize sip of the whisky. This is to get myself accustomed to a drink with high alcohol content. The small sips prepares my palate so to say. The saliva in my mouth  helps me diluting the whisky. Further on I just take bigger and bigger sips keeping the whisky in my mouth. You drink whisky cause its supposed to taste very good, so you don't want to pour it straight down the belly as when you drink to get drunk, you want to keep it in the mouth, chew it, breathe thru it and whatever tricks there is to perform to extract the flavours. As you practise you'll find your own ways of doing this and also get better at it

You actually taste a whisky mainly with your nose or the smelling sense. If you have a cold and the passage between your mouth and nose is blocked it gets very hard or impossible to taste things, something we all unfortunately have had experiences with.

Nosing whisky

So when you got a great whisky in a glass you want to nose it. You want to smell it, inhale it, breathe it through your nose. This is where you need a proper glass. You need to find a glass that delivers the aromas best for you. There's no "best" glass as your nose isnt the same as my nose. But in the industry, the proffesional nosers are using nosing glasses which is actual a classic copita sherry glass. These exist in many variations and are highly recommandable. Here's a few examples

The Glencairn Glass has become very popular, its a 

copita type glass with a solid bottom and hard to break

Different types of Copita style glasses for whisky drinking and a wee water decanter.

A more well known glass type like the tumbler, I find unsuitable for nosing purposes and whisky drinking. Unfortunately most bars have no clue on this and insists on serving whiskies in tumblers. A pity. If a bar doesnt have copita type glasses ask for a wine glass or cognac bulb and repour your whisky. Personally I am no fan fan of cognac bulbs as they dont delivers for me but I happen to know a few who prefers these to copitas. But as said above, we all got different noses

Nosing a whisky, you need to practise it a bit. You need to find your right distance between the glass and the nose. Some people like to stick it (if it fits in) as far down the glass as possible, others like to catch the aromas high above the rims of the glass. Play around with this, the closer you get to liquid the more alcohol you get, but also more intensity. It's a bit like adding water, you need to practise to find the right balance. Fortunatelly practise is quite fun when it comes to whiskydrinking

Some people like to nose first then drink, I like to nose a bit, then take a sip, then mix between nosing and drinking until the glass is empty and another whisky is poured

Well this was Part 1, next parts will be on where to start in the whisky jungle and how to get around it